Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS | More

When it comes to money it is easy to become one of the few who really know how you are doing financially … because the truth is, these days people are more focused on building their PROFILE than they are on building their PROFITS

I know people who have businesses in the high six figures and still feel inadequate when it comes to tracking the money.

Every week I talk to people who have very painful stories about what they lost because they didn’t understand what was really happening to them financially. They just knew things were getting worse.

You will also hear
• Why you are never truly safe from worrying about money
• How losing a business is not the end of the world
• How I messed up big time
• What you are going to get from me over the next few weeks
And much more (with a little help from David Cameron)

[spp-transcript]

Transcript

001: Time to Fess Up or Mess Up

Welcome to Episode 001

Firmer Figures is about how you deal with the day to day business money muddle. What keeps you awake at night, how to set up your systems, your environment, your support team and, the impact on your personal life and relationships. So if you do get wealthy you hang on to it and if you are not wealthy yet, well, you reduce your chances of losing it all before you get there

If you are looking for how to get rich in 90 days then this is not the show for you, there are plenty of others out there that are more than willing to show you how to do that.

But if you wanted to turn financial confusion into clarity in 90 days, then I would be your girl.

Disclaimer

This episode, or any resources mentioned, is not a substitute for obtaining proper financial and or legal advice from a qualified professional who is familiar with your particular situation. Also be aware that the information contained may not be suitable for every person or organisation.

So Georgette; I hear you say, that is all very nice, but who are you? I don’t want to take up too much time talking about me, as we get to know each other over the coming weeks I will reveal more and more of my checkered history.

You can get a full run down on my about page at financialgymforbusiness.com/about

But just to give you a little background.

I spent many years in the corporate world, managing the outsourcing needs of large organisations (mainly in the financial sector) such as the Bank of England, Barclays Bank, Merrill Lynch, UBS and HM Revenue & Customs, before I fell in love with helping independent business owners streamline their money.

During that time I left twice to go on maternity leave…… (Listen to the podcast for the full story)

I was later asked to take on a division that trained the personnel around Europe to implement and support the technology that was then used to power ATM machines and Air Traffic Control.

Finally I left the corporate world and went into business with a friend and the fallout from that nearly broke all of us

I am also the author of a book called Firmer Figures – Fess Up or Mess Up which is a guide to help entrepreneurs’ spot financial warning signs in their business. You can find out more about it at firmerfiguresbook.com

People are more focused on building their PROFILE than they are on building their PROFITS

I know people who have businesses in the high six figures and still feel inadequate when it comes to tracking the money.

Or those that are in established businesses constantly worrying about what they could lose if they don’t get on top of things. As someone confessed to me once “they got tired of living on the edge of their nerves” Having a high six figure business did not protect you from head butting with the tax office. In fact you became of more interest to the revenue because of the larger turnover.

I am all for spending lots of time and energy on marketing, getting your customer service right and admin tighter than a drum; because these are the things that will improve your financial position every time. But not measuring accurately whether all the effort is paying off is financial suicide.

A reward of going into business is to make money for you, your family and to help others. Yet dealing with the money is the very thing that can be the cause of so much anxiety and stress that people fall out of love with a business they were actually born to do.

Money issues have no respect for size, age or turnover; otherwise we would still have Woolworths. The day when you can lock the gate behind you and be safe for ever will not come. But you can keep the trouble at bay.

Now I will fess up. When I closed my first business, I owed more money than many of the people I talk to; who ended up sleeping on other people’s couches, eating beans on toast for dinner and watching bailiffs empty their homes, and some even lost their homes.

Yet I never lost my home, no bailiffs came to my door and beans on toast were not the only things we had to eat. How come?

Well after going through what I can only describe as the stages of grief. Even getting out of bed took superhuman effort. I realised that feeling silly and false pride, while not the reason for

I knew I had to stop overthinking and brooding so that I could face up to what I needed to do to get my life back. I was also honest enough to know that I would do it a whole lot better if I had someone who would be there for me while I dealt with it, even if it was only on a professional level. That way I would not give up until I had sorted out the mess.

If I could make the mistakes I did, with the training I had and my background, what about people who had none of that.

Business comes have 3 main components – Sales & Marketing, Operations (the doing part) and Financial Control. The first two I understood, but the financial side just made complete sense to me. So I knew that was where I could be of the most help.

I am here to say, reach out for help when you need it, do not try to be a hero and do it all alone. If you are doing well, do you know why that is? If things are not so great, do you know why that is?

What You Are Going to Get From Me

Over the next episodes I am going to walk you through the nitty gritty of setting up your own business for the first time; or setting up again in some of your cases. As time goes on you will see that some episodes will be very practical and money focused. Others will lean towards productivity and well-being. And from time to time I will bring on experts to share the show with me who I believe will add value to you.

Feel free to give me feedback and let me know if there are any questions you have that I could cover. You can leave a voice message by going to my website financialgymforbusiness.com and clicking the link with the microphone. Or send a message from the contact page. If you have a website, blog or podcast, leave the details and I will give you a shout-out.

Shine the Light

This is the part of the show where I shine the light on great people and resources that you that you may find helpful or inspirational.

Today we have an oldie but goodie:-

The Ziglar Show Podcast – Motivation & Inspiration to Fuel Your Life by Ziglar.com If you are already familiar with Mr Ziglar; then that’s great. If not and you are in need of inspiration from a great speaker, who will make you smile; then Zig is your man. I personally discovered him on YouTube years ago and binge watched him. He has passed now; but his legacy is still going strong on the Ziglar.com website.

There are links in the show notes to both if you want to learn more. Go to financialgymforbusiness.com/001

FURTHER INFORMATION

If you really want to deep dive into reasons business may or may not be for you. Check out my book, Firmer Figures – Fess Up or Mess Up. First couple of chapters go into great detail about how to decide what you want and what type of business may suit you. You will find it at firmerfiguresbook.com

For the links to any of the resources I mentioned; go over to financialgymforbusiness/001 where you will find them in the show notes.

If this was useful to you please would you consider going over iTunes if you are an apple user or Stitcher if you are an android user; and give me a Rate and Review.

I love bringing information to you and would really love to know if it helps.

Every 5*rating that I get; not only tells me that I not just talking to myself; it also tells iTunes and Stitcher. That way when people are searching for a show like mine, I show up.

Full step by step instructions on how to do this can be found on my site at financialgymforbusiness/podcast

And if you don’t want to have to remember when I am next on, just click the subscribe button on whatever platform you are listening in on, so you get notified. In fact why not do it now.

Thank you so much for being here. Take care until next time, bye.

Disclaimer

This episode, or any resources mentioned, is not a substitute for obtaining proper financial and or legal advice from a qualified professional who is familiar with your specific situation. Also be aware that the information contained may not be suitable for every person or organisation.

[/spp-transcript]

Show Links and Resources

Firmer Figures – Fess Up or Mess Up

The Ziglar Show Podcast

Ziglar.com

David Cameron Speech in full (Tory Party Conference)

Download your 5 Tools to Freedom

How to Rate & Review a Podcast in iTunes

http://serialpodcast.org/how-to-listen (This is brilliantly done)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUyKXYSWdhM[/youtube]

Businesses don’t go bust overnight

When I talk to people who have lost a business or are going through tough times.

So tough they fear they could go under

So many of them will site a particular situation or milestone that was the thing that caused it.

“The bank withdrew my overdraft, I relied on it”

“I was refused a business loan that I thought was a sure thing”

“ I lost a few good clients due to the recession”

“ We were expecting to land a big deal and it didn’t happen or it is still happening”

“We did get a big deal, but it broke us trying to service it”

I could go on and on

It is not impossible for one big thing to push your business over the edge, it is just less likely. The big thing tends to be the straw that finally broke the camel’s back.

The reality is that most businesses hit financial difficulty due to a slow painful death like a scene from a Quentin Tarrantino movie, as opposed to a Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee quick deadly from out of nowhere Kung Fu blow.

Kung Fu style you die quick, but if you oldies like me remembers Reservoir Dogs or even Pulp Fiction, the poor victim is often tortured or messed with psychologically before they meet their end.

When they are eventually finished off, the obvious cause of death would be what was done to them last, the gun shot, the stab wound, whatever. But they were so wounded by then, despite probably fighting to stay alive that the damage had already been done.

So if we step away from my violent example and put that in a business context. By the time a company or sole trader closes their doors; there have usually been a catalogue of problems, some big but many small that seem almost routine but are the result of:

– Serial inefficiencies,

– Constant fire fighting

– The owner being distracted from the important in favour of the attractive

– An obsession with lack of cash but with little concrete knowledge of exactly why

All too often it is when the liquidators or administrators are called in that the person gets a real snapshot of their true position and factual reasons as opposed to assumptions as to why they have arrived at this place.

And guess what: the majority had accountants.

Getting accurate data once a year is not enough.

It is the equivalent of driving on the highway with your lights off and only turning them on when you hit trouble.

If you think of the lights as information, as long as they are on and pointing you in the right direction you can see where you are headed and gauge likely trouble spots. While changes can be slight detours business decisions often need to be total changes of direction to get to where you want to be and you can only do this with trustworthy info.

Keep your business out of the dark; don’t wait until you hit something to find out where you are headed.

===================================

I am Georgette Rowland of the Financial Gym saying thank you for your time.

I would love to know your experiences so please leave your thoughts and comments below and I would appreciate it if you could like the video also.

Too many businesses go under so let’s work together to get the number down. Please share this with anyone who you believe could benefit.

If you do not already get my giveaways then download my free booklet and get yourself added to the list.

Have a great day Georgette

FFS001:Time to Fess Up or Mess Up Your Business Finances

001: Time to Fess Up or Mess Up

Why Lack of Money is not the real cause of Business Failure

Testimonials